UK items exports to the US, excluding valuable metals, fell by virtually 25% in April 2025 following the introduction of tariffs and have remained comparatively low since, official knowledge has revealed.
The Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) mentioned good exports fell by £1.5 billion in comparison with March, with the worth of products exports to the US £0.8 billion (14.1%) decrease in April 2025 than in April 2024.
Exports of vehicles have additionally fallen for the reason that introduction of tariffs and have remained under pre-tariff ranges since April 2025.
In March 2025, the worth of products exports to the US noticed a big improve iby £0.8 billion (14.7%) to £6.2 billion, the best degree since Could 2023. ONS mentioned the rise was possible the results of UK exporters bringing ahead commerce, and importers in the US stockpiling forward of tariffs being imposed.
Items imports from the US, excluding valuable metals, have exceeded items exports to the US for 3 consecutive months since December 2025.
In keeping with the ONS, UK exporters have persistently reported challenges related to US tariffs. In late February 2026, 33% of companies with 10 or extra staff that had exported items within the final 12 months reported they have been affected by US tariffs within the final month, with 18.7% reporting experiencing extra prices.
There was a slight improve in UK exports to different international locations, since April 2025, with Hong Kong and Germany seeing the biggest rises.
The proportion of UK items exports going to Hong Kong between April 2025 and February 2026 rose by 0.8 share factors in contrast with 2024, whereas the proportion of UK items exports going to Germany in the identical interval elevated by 0.6 share factors in contrast with 2024.
Samuel Edwards, head of consumer portfolio administration at world monetary companies agency Ebury, mentioned:
“This knowledge exposes the dimensions of the injury from US tariffs, in what successfully brought on an in a single day collapse in commerce – wiping out round 1 / 4 of UK items exports to the US in a single month.
“The continued stagnation in UK-US commerce regardless of the agreements aimed toward easing among the tariff burden, can also be disappointing.
“Whereas the tariffs have supported some re-routing of commerce flows to markets comparable to Hong Kong and Germany, the US stays the UK’s largest export market – so this scale of downturn is prone to have penalties on total UK development.
“Exporters are dealing with a triple squeeze of upper buying and selling prices from tariffs, raised employment prices and taxes, and enter worth pressures – all of that are eroding margins and making it tougher to compete internationally.
“On the similar time, the Iran battle is including recent value pressures by power markets, whereas buying and selling situations have gotten more and more risky. For exporters, which means tighter margins, larger uncertainty, and a a lot harder atmosphere to function in.
“In opposition to this backdrop, exporters should stay as agile as attainable – streamlining operations, reviewing hedging methods to restrict publicity to FX volatility, and making certain entry to versatile finance to strengthen resilience.”
